Milosevic admits: “War crimes were committed in Kosovo”

Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic said in front of The Hague Tribunal today, that crimes were committed during wartime against Albanians in Kosovo in 1999.

Milosevic also said that at the time, military institutions did investigate those cases and did press charges against those who committed the crimes. He, however, could not answer the Tribunal’s question of how many people exactly were sentenced and punished for the crimes.

“These documents are related to the main indictments that state that Yugoslavian forces, rather that military forces, committed crimes in Kosovo. No one is denying the fact that crimes were committed, and here you can see that the entire line of command made sure that these crimes would be punished, first the criminal would be arrested, and then taken to court.” Milosevic said.

Milosevic gave details regarding the war crimes from the military documents he had, which claim that during the spring of 1999, members of the Yugoslav army, mostly reserves, killed innocent Albanians and threw the bodies into wells, as well as committed crimes of rape and robbery against Albanian and Roma civilians.

The former Yugoslav president, who stands accused by The Hague for crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Kosovo and acts of genocide in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, presented 12 cases in which 28 Albanians were killed, and three cases of rape. He also cited several criminal reports that were filed in May 1999, against “unidentified persons” for the murder of 144 Albanian civilians, whose bodies were found in the village of Izbica.